A Heart Full of Thanks (and Where We're Headed)
By Ashley Schausten
I started this as a daydream and a shoebox of receipts. I need to say some thank-yous.
To the foster families who've opened their homes — sometimes their closets, their bathrooms, their laundry rooms — to kittens they'd eventually have to let go: you are the actual rescue. I just answer the phone.
To the volunteers who've driven runs, folded laundry, cleaned litter, built spreadsheets, and shown up at odd hours with no notice: I see every single one of you.
To the donors — the Venmo fairy, the person who dropped a case of kitten milk at Schausten's, the stranger who paid a vet bill they never had to: this dream of mine would never have even become a possibility without the kindness and selfless nature of those who support this vision. You are the reason any of it works.
To the adopters who send updates — the photos of former ferals now purring on couches, the videos of kittens who'd never known a kind hand climbing a cat tree like they own the place: those messages are the fuel. Keep them coming. I save every one.
Where we're headed: more intakes as we earn our 501(c)(3) status, a bigger foster network, and a spay/neuter push to catch the kittens before they're born. We're not trying to be the biggest rescue. We're trying to be the kind of rescue that, when you call, picks up.
Thank you. For real. For everything so far. The best chapters are still ahead — and they're all of ours.
